In an exclusive interview with Deccan Chronicle, Govardhan Rao said Abhishek should move the courts if he felt he was owed any money, instead of making what he called ‘baseless allegations’ against his son Vijay Deverakonda.
Excerpts from the conversation:
What is Vijay Deverkonda’s connection with Abhishek Nama?
We have nothing to do with Abhishek Nama. Being a distributor, he has some dispute with producer K S Rama Rao over losses incurred on World Famous Lover, but he is trying to divert it towards Vijay Deverakonda since he is famous and a soft target. Even though we owe him nothing, we still met Abhishek on humanitarian grounds after the release of the film.
We also told him that we had given up 50% per cent of Vijay’s remuneration for the movie, and didn’t take possession of the flat given by Rama Rao as the film didn’t fare as expected. What is the need for us to compensate distributors for losses? Above all, when Abhishek approached us, Vijay had signed films with top producers Dil Raju, Mythri Movie Makers and Geeta Arts, so we had no dates to spare.
What about his claim that you insisted on Bollywood directors like Sanjay Leela Bhansali?
As he was pestering us for a long time, to avoid him diplomatically, we just threw up the names of Sanjay Leela Bhansali and Sukumar since we knew that he couldn’t get them. Frankly, Vijay didn’t even know that we were talking to Abhishek Nama, so dragging his name in is unfortunate. If we really owe him any money, he can approach the court of law or trade bodies rather than making silly and baseless allegations against us. These blackmailing tactcs won’t work.
What about Sunil Narang, who came along with him?
Sunil Narang has a stature and reputation in the industry and we respect him. He used to narrate stories to us after Arjun Reddy and continued to do so until a few months ago. But stories and director were the issues. We would like to work with him, if we get the right script and director. However, with regard to Abhishek Nama, it is a firm ‘No’. He has ulterior motives.
What is your response to his claim of a drop in collections of Kushi?
Why is Abhishek worried about collections of Kushi? He has nothing to do with the film. If Vijay’s movies are not doing well, then why is he ready to do films with him? It exposes his double speak. Coming to Kushi collections, it has grossed Rs 40 crore, with big collections in US, Tamil Nadu and the Nizam region, barring some centres in Andhra Pradesh. Heavy rains have affected its collections a bit at a few centres. But undoubtedly, Kushi is the biggest grosser for Vijay after Geeta Govindam. Vijay is a person with a positive outlook, but some people are deliberately targeting him for no reason. He will continue with his charity work since it comes from his heart.
